Gender dysphoria

Health disclosure: This article contains in-depth discussion of Chris's physical and/or mental health. This page is not to be construed as a substitute for medical advice or a professional diagnosis. All diagnoses are either taken from outside documentation or based on amateur analysis.

Gender dysphoria, also known as gender identity disorder, is a psychological disorder in which a person identifies as another gender and experiences distress from the discordance between gender identity and actual anatomy. Chris was diagnosed with the condition in 2016.

Chris & Dysphoria

Through the years one thing strikingly evident about Chris is the complete and total lack of understanding he has for his own body. Though he believed that he was strong, handsome, charismatic and on the TRUE and STRAIGHT path, those beliefs have habitually found themselves to be quite the opposite, and nothing shows this principal more true than his prior belief that he is the absolute peak of the male form. Aside from moments when he would show some sort of discomfort or unfamiliarity, Chris tried his absolute hardest to convince everyone around him (as well as himself) that men are physically superior. That being said, it is easy to believe that Chris doesn't exhibit gender dysphoria at a glance, however his surface level bigotry has historically been hypocritical and shouldn't be taken at face value.

Early Signs

Although Chris did not officially admit to be a transgender person until 2015, there have been many events prior to even the Tomgirl Saga that foreshadowed this inevitable path. Chris' imagining of his daughter Crystal Weston Chandler and the creation of his imaginary sister by the same name may have been some of the first signs of his gender dysphoria. While his daughter has not been personified in any medium Chris has released, she shares his middle and last names, and his sister in the comics bore a striking resemblance to Chris himself at the time of drawing despite only being gender-swapped. In 2008, Chris posted to the Sonichu Girls webforum an introduction to any females that would be on the site. Within the introduction, Chris mentions the distaste of witnessing his own Duck, stating:

Also, I feel discomfort when shopping for underwear for myself; they do not need models pictured on the package. It grosses me out to see that thing. It's bad enough that I sometimes see my own when I look down (of which I don't feel as much discomfort), but the very sight of others is like kryptonite to me; it makes me feel like throwing up even when the image randomly pops up in my head.

Earlier in the same introduction post to the webforum, Chris discussed his feminine side and ponders if he was supposed to be female.

Aside from the understood fact, I feel that I am truly in touch with my feminine side, to the point where I am capable of learning from that to better understand how to treat women in a caring, nurturing, positive way; I've also learned from Red Skelton of how to be a gentleman. Sometimes I wonder between my caring attitude and the lack of a Sweetheart if I was born the wrong gender; I would wonder what life would have been like if I had actually been born a girl. But afterwards, I'd realize that I should still appreciate being born a boy to gentleman; God gave me the package, and I signed for it.

In 2009 Chris wondered what his life would be like if he was born a woman again within Mailbag 27, stating:

Sometimes, I wonder what my life would be like if I was born female instead, because of some of my emotional, caring, self-conscious thoughts I had in my lifetime. Then I would later remember that God must have made me all straight male for good reasons.

Pre Tomgirl Saga

Chris getting in touch with his feminine side

Chris was known to experiment with cross dressing many times before officially declaring himself a lesbian tomgirl and crossdressing regularly. In 2008, the identity of Blanca Weiss asked Chris to take photos of himself wearing his mother's undergarments, to which he happily obliged. Later in 2009, Chris confided in Ivy that he enjoyed wearing women's underwear. In September of that same year during a call with Kacey, he told her that he planned on buying a sports bra to prevent the excessive bouncing of his breasts while jogging. Chris purchased some bras, and immediately loved wearing them, claiming that he enjoyed the feeling of donning them and felt confident. This is an effect of Chris' well known aversion to seeing bare male breasts, including his own. Chris would continue to wear these sports bras from this point onwards, and would eventually move on to wearing everyday bras typically used by most women.

In 2010, Chris would experiment wearing these bras in more open and public places. Chris would be spotted and photographed 18 June 2010 at Fridays After Five flaunting a sports bra with "WANT WOMAN!" written in permanent marker on the front face of the bra.

In 2011, Chris started to get in touch with his more "feminine side." Chris would admit to being more comfortable using the opposite gender's assigned restrooms in public places. Shortly after that same year on 26 March, Chris sent an email to Jackie revealing that he had begun fully crossdressing at the start of the month. Then four days later on 30 March, Chris would change the quote on his PSN to read "I am Tomgirl" marking the beginning of the Tomgirl Saga.

Psychological symptoms

According to DSM-5, the symptoms for gender dysphoria are:

• A strong desire to be of a gender other than one's assigned gender
• A strong desire to be treated as a gender other than one's assigned gender
• A significant incongruence between one's experienced or expressed gender and one's sexual characteristics
• A strong desire for the sexual characteristics of a gender other than one's assigned gender
• A strong desire to be rid of one's sexual characteristics due to incongruence with one's experienced or expressed gender
• A strong conviction that one has the typical reactions and feelings of a gender other than one's assigned gender
• Associated with clinically significant distress or impairment

See also

• Chris and gender
• Transgender
• Self-inflicted taint wound